Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a seasoned Indian pacer, was re-signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a substantial sum of 107.5 million Indian rupees ($1.28 million) on the second day of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held in Saudi Arabia on Monday. The bidding for Kumar, who had previously played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad for three seasons, initially seemed to be a contest between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants. However, Bengaluru swiftly intervened with their first bid, securing Kumar's services and bolstering their bowling lineup for the upcoming season.
The auction saw several high-profile deals, with Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer securing eye-watering contracts worth 270 million rupees and 267.5 million rupees, respectively, on the opening day in Jeddah. These deals shattered previous records in the world's wealthiest Twenty20 tournament.
Other notable acquisitions included Deepak Chahar, who was signed by Mumbai for 92.5 million rupees, and Delhi Capitals securing Mukesh Kumar for 80 million rupees. Akash Deep joined Lucknow for the same amount, highlighting the significant value placed on Indian pace bowlers. Punjab Kings managed to outbid Mumbai and Gujarat Titans to sign South African all-rounder Marco Jansen for 70 million rupees.
Notably, all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, who had joined Chennai Super Kings for a whopping 140 million rupees last year, went unsold during the early bidding stages, along with New Zealand teammates Kane Williamson and Glenn Phillips. England's Sam Curran returned to Chennai for 24 million rupees, a bargain compared to the 185 million rupees Punjab paid for him in 2022.
Mumbai further strengthened their attack by acquiring Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar for 48 million rupees, while India all-rounder Washington Sundar was a steal for Gujarat at 32 million rupees.
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